260 A MEDLEY OF SPORT 



never a feather did I touch. Not so the guns on my 

 right, however, both of whom scored a right and left to 

 their credit ere the first covey of the day had crossed 

 to the neighbouring marshes, over which we had no 

 sporting rights. The report of the last shot fired had 

 hardly died away than a big hare was set afoot by old 



Carlo, and away she quietly loped right ahead of M . 



Again the cartridge in the lawyer's gun barrel 

 " snapped," and away stole Mistress Puss unflecked, and 

 as though she rather enjoyed listening to the salute fired 

 in her honour ; while Carlo looked first at the retreating 

 game and then at the shooter, as though to say, " If you 

 ' muff ' another hare in that manner, sir, hanged if I 

 won't chase." 



One beat sufficed to work out the rough bit of cover, 

 which, beyond the brace of birds mentioned above, 



yielded but a humble rabbit, accounted for by H , 



who was on my right hand. 



We now entered a big lucerne marsh, at one end of 

 which was a fairly large fleet of water, that usually 

 held a few couple of mallard, widgeon, or teal. " Part- 

 ridge " was the order of the day, however, and we there- 

 fore agreed to leave the fleets (there were two) until later. 



It looked as though the first beat across the lucerne 

 marsh would prove blank, but just as the guns were near- 

 ing the fleet a couple of red-headed pochards rose from a 



sedgy dyke within easy reach of B , who killed clean 



with his right and dropped the second bird with a wing 

 down with his left barrel. Almost simultaneously a good 



